Britannia, by William Camden

Cauci.The County of Wicklow.

The Cauci.THE Cauci, who were also a People upon the Sea-coast of Germany, inhabited that part of the
Country that is next the Menapii; but not at the same distance as those in Germany. They lived in that Maritim
Tract, which is now possess’d by theO-Tools, Birns.O-Tools and Birns, Irish
families that * * So said, ann. 1607.subsist by rapin and blood; being ever restless and
unquiet; and, confiding in the strength of their Forts and Garrisons, they obstinately defy all Laws, and live in
implacable enmity against the English. To put a stop to their outrage, and to make them conformable to the Laws, it was
debated by some knowing men in the year 1578, how those parts might be reduced into a County; and at last they were
divided into six several Baronies, which should make the County of Wicklo or Arcklo. Wicklo or Arcklo. For this is the chief place hereabouts, and † † Is, C.was a
Castle of the Earls of Ormond, who, among other titles of honour, ¦ ¦ Stile, C.stiled
themselves Lords of Arcklo. ⌈Besides this, it hath the Town of Wicklow, which is a Corporation, and
the Shire-Town; and gives the title of Baron to the honourable Family of Maynard; and is famous for the best
Ale in Ireland** See p.1364,
1366.; and BlessingtonBlessington. which gives the title of Baron to a
branch of the honourable Family of Boyle. Also, it hath several pretty Villages, with some Noblemen’s Seats;
and it is so well inhabited with English, and by them improved to that degree, as to make it inferior to few Counties
in this Kingdom.⌉

Below Arcklo, the river call’d Ovoca in Ptolemy, runs into the Sea, and (as Giraldus Cambrensis
says) is of that nature, that as well when the tide flows as ebbs, the water in this creek retains its natural
taste and freshness, preserving it self unmix’d and free from any tincture of salt, to the very Sea.

Ware, Ant. p.153. ⌈In this County, at Windgate, is a remarkable heap of
Stones; concerning which, the Learned Writer of the Antiquities of Ireland gives a threefold Conjecture, That it must
be, either for the burial of persons slain in Battel; or a Mercurial Monument, laid there by Travellers, according to
the custom of Antiquity, in honour of Mercury, the Protector of Travellers; or one of those heaps of Stones,
which were heretofore laid to mark out the Mears or Bounds of Land, and were called Scorpions. Ibid. p.71, and 53. Also, in this County, near Glandelach, certain Country-people, in the year
1639, found a great quantity of ancient Irish Coins.⌉